When people find out I am in to my health and fitness and studied to be a personal trainer, they would often ask me about what I eat. It doesn’t worry me as I like talking about food, most people think I mustn’t like food or only eat really boring food – the exact opposite is true, I LOVE food so much!! In fact almost too much.
I especially love sweet foods and they are definitely my weakness, I can take or leave cheese and crackers but put a cake, cookies or slice in front of me and you will be lucky to have any crumbs left.
That is precisely the reason why I create things like my clean snickers cups and bounty bars! Otherwise I would put far too much refined sugar and other crap into my body! That’s not to say I won’t buy a slice of cake or cookie, far from the truth – I have no qualms in buying one or having some if we have an event at work or something like that, I just like to have cleaner versions where I can, my body is a temple or something like that.
So, what do I eat?
Breakfast
- Some kind of protein (generally chicken or bacon), scrambled eggs and some frozen vegetables, sometimes with a spoonful of peanut butter on the side. Or
- Oats with home made yoghurt and seeds and nuts.
Lunch
- Generally leftovers from the night before. Or
- Chicken breast with frozen vegetables. Or
- Oats with protein powder and seeds and nuts.
Dinner
- Chicken and rice (or kumara or roasted vegetables) with frozen vegetables. Or
- Salmon and rice (or kumara or roasted vegetables) with frozen vegetables. Or
- Steak and roast vegetables. Or
- A crockpot meal, usually consisting of some kind of beef, tinned tomatoes and potatoes.
Snacks
- Bliss Balls or Protein Balls
- Protein Bar (Usually a Quest bar)
- Nuts and Seeds
- Yoghurt with some nuts, seeds and coconut
- A cup of tea
You will see that often I don’t have a lot of carbohydrates in the morning or for lunch, there isn’t any real reason for that other than I started it and never went back to having all the carbohydrates. I do feel a bit more switched on in the morning than on the days that I start with oats in the morning.
Dinner is fairly standard with some sort of protein, carbohydrate (generally either rice, kumara or roast vegetables) and some frozen vegetables. I don’t have an issue eating frozen vegetables as it is a heck of a lot more convenient than buying a whole cauliflower, broccoli and other assorted vegetables and having to force your way through them before they start growing green stuff on them!
I ALWAYS have morning and afternoon tea, I can never seem to make it through the day without them and I am always the person that is constantly hungry even though I only ate an hour ago.
What do I eat when I’m at a restaurant?
This is another question I get asked a bit, and the answer is simple: Whatever I feel like on that day! If I feel like a pasta I will get it, same goes for pizza or a steak or a salad. In actual fact I hesitate at ordering a salad in a restaurant for fear that I will not get enough and will still be hungry.
Most often I will choose the burger (if it’s a lunch time outing) or the steak (if it’s for dinner), unless we are going somewhere that specialises in something, ie Indian or a Pizza Place.
I believe in eating in moderation and choosing the food you like to eat and letting yourself go every now and again. Sometimes I have weeks where it seems like I am always eating out and I get sick of those types of food and really crave a chicken breast and rice (don’t worry I never thought I would say that either!!).
I got like this after our three week holiday in Vietnam where all our meals were cooked for us or purchased on the street. While our meals were in substance similar to at home (chicken and rice, meat and salad etc), I found they cooked with a lot of oil and everything just tasted greasy. All I wanted when I got home was a plate of plain chicken breast and rice!
So there you have it, a few ideas of what I eat. My next post will feature a meal plan for a week which will show you exactly what I eat over a ‘normal’ week (when I don’t have heaps of events on and end up eating out) and may help give you some ideas on what to eat if your struggling.
What are your go to meals during the week?
Oh I read this blog at the perfect time! 🙂 I love that you’re honest and real about your food and if you are at a restaurant and feel like pasta then you will have it. I really just think that’s what it’s all about i.e. being able to have food that you want sometimes rather than cutting it out completely.
I was thinking about you this morning and wondered how much weighed protein you eat for dinner/lunch like 100g or….?
Breakfast
– Normally oats, frozen berries and yoghurt
– Scrambled eggs with toast and hash browns
Lunch
– Sometimes left overs with salad and/or vegetables
– Otherwise chicken with salad/avocado and possibly one pita bread
Dinner
– Normally chicken with salad or vegetables. Lately we have been having pasta and I have ZERO control with pasta *sigh* I blame winter (whereas I should blame myself)
Then after dinner I EAT ALL THE FOOD. That’s obviously my problem area.
Snacks
– Nut Bars
– Yoghurt
– Bliss Balls or other ball
Ooh the after dinner trap! I try to have something low calorie if I really feel like eating something, I always try to have low cal jelly in the frigde made up and try to go for that. Or a cup of tea, I’ve been big on tea after dinner lately! Otherwise yoghurt is a good one, I try to stay away from nuts after dinner as I will eat far too many and blow out my calories!
I usually have between 100-150g of protein with lunch and dinner, depending on what else I’m having with it of course!
Interesting post Amanda. I love your eating out bit. I eat whatever I want when I go out too! We don’t eat out very often so I see it as a chance to treat myself and get what I really want on the menu. If I feel like a salad I’ll have one, but if I want a steak sandwich and fries I will too.
That’s how I feel, it shouldn’t be a big deal and we shouldn’t be thinking ooh no I better have the salad. Life’s about enjoying it, just remembering to reign it back a bit if we’re eating out too often. That was a bad week for me eating out wise! At least I’m conscious of it and know the next couple of weeks I won’t be eating out as much (or at all!)
Delicious!
I’ve recently started trying to cut down on my carbohydrates, with the exception of fresh fruit and vegetables (I’m a vegetarian who’s only just started eating fish within the last year, so I’ve found it too difficult/limiting/BORING to eliminate ALL carbs).
Breakfast is normally Vogel’s toast with either peanut butter or Marmite or wholegrain cereal with mixed berries, lunch is usually a vegetable soup with extra frozen veggies and dinner is typically grilled salmon or fish with some more veggies. Through the day I’ll snack on mixed nuts, apples and mandarins 🙂
When it comes to eating out, I’m the same as you… life’s too short to be restrictive! I *try* my best to pick a healthy option, but I’m not going to lose the plot if I choose a delectable pasta or pizza :p
Sounds like your eating is pretty damn good Corrine! Life is way too short not to eat the damn pasta when your out and about that’s for sure!